Save the Date: Poets take the stage in Highland Park

La Palabra, the poetry reading series at Avenue 50 Studio in Highland Park, on Sunday afternoon features two poets with strong Eastside connections. Rolando Ortiz grew up in East Los Angeles, the youngest of seven children who got involved with gangs and spent time in prison. Ortiz’ career as a poet took off after being discovered in a downtown poetry jam. Ortiz now lives in Fontana and holds writing workshops with troubled youth. Dennis Cruz, a native of Costa Rica who lives in El Sereno, came to the U.S. as a young boy, and his poetry reflects his life as an outsider. Here are samples of what you can expect from both poets on Sunday:

“My Stroll” by Rolando Ortiz

Warm beach sand hides between my toes The smell of the ocean reminds me of where I stroll The sound of crashing waves and kids running away reminds me of where I stroll As the sun turns orange and sets in the west, the smell of burning wood reminds me of where I stroll The cool ocean breeze kisses me softly as her beauty reminds me of where I stroll As I open my eyes this cell and these prison walls remind me of where I lay my head and ponder of my next stroll

Click below to read Brazen Enough by Dennis Cruz

“Brazen Enough” by Dennis Cruz

I’ll stand for nothing more than your scalpel fingers on my bloated flesh. send your butchers, your saviours, your trembling dreams…. my need to feed is brutal and primal. oh my cannibal tongue flicking in and out of your artifice. these nightmares speak volumes… and utter graves. let’s slip down into the busom of our dead mothers… let’s slip down into our lost, forgottens. that we may one day rise from the ashes of our fired fusion. no god left to save or absolve no satan brazen enough to challenge or threaten… our blissful purposed eyes… because now we see what was not there. because now we believe what we would not dare.

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